.webp)
As you do the deep work of researching, outlining, writing, and revising your speech, a popular piece of speaking advice might come to mind: There are three things you need to do: Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them.
You might start to wonder if you should do this in your speech. Speakers learning to craft transformational speeches in GRAD | Speech Writing Mastery often ask this question. They wonder how they can incorporate this advice into their speech script.
It’s a reasonable approach to speech organization. After all, who am I to question Aristotle? I’ve heard more than a few eloquent speakers, including retired four-star general and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, recommend this technique.
But is it really necessary? It depends on the type of speech you’re giving.
This Advice Works… Sometimes.
There are many situations where this typical advice can help you deliver a clear and straightforward message that’s easy for your audience to understand.
It’s especially effective in information-based settings like board meetings, breakout sessions, and workshops; any time you’re delivering an expertise-driven talk. Using this approach can give your audience a sense of clarity and structure, helping them feel more secure and confident in what’s to come. It signals that you’re organized, prepared, and intentional about their experience.
Here at HEROIC, during both our in-person events and our virtual training programs, we always outline what the programming will look like, how it's going to work, what students should expect, exactly how long the different breaks and activities will be, along with any other essential information students should know.
Why? To help each student feel comfortable and secure in the learning process. When your audience feels like they know what’s going to happen and what you expect of them, it helps them feel safe.
The “Tell ’Em What You Told ’Em” Advice Doesn't Work for Keynotes
While this advice can work well for information-based sessions, it can damage or even ruin a transformational experience like a keynote session or a TED-style speech. Here’s why it often doesn’t work:
#1 It eliminates curiosity.
When you're doing a keynote that lives at the intersection of both entertainment and insight, you want the audience on the edge of their seat. You want to take them on a transformational journey with you, and you actually don’t want them to know what's going to happen next.
Explaining beforehand what you’re going to talk about or do can actually ruin that mysterious experience for your audience. It can eliminate curiosity and destroy wonder.
Just imagine you turn on the TV to watch an episode of Breaking Bad. But instead of the normal opening intro sequence, Brian Cranston comes onscreen (as himself, not his character Walter White) and tells you everything that’s going to happen in the episode.
Talk about a major spoiler alert. The episode would be ruined, because the mystery, curiosity, and the element of surprise would be completely eliminated.
One of the reasons we tune in for entertainment is because it takes us on a ride, a journey, a wondrous experience where we don't know what's going to happen next. The best keynote speeches do the same. They take the audience on a rollercoaster ride full of emotion, contrast, entertainment, and insight; they avoid spoilers at all costs.
#2 It invites judgement and criticism.
Often, if your audience knows what’s going to happen before it happens, they internally judge, evaluate, and criticize.
Imagine you’re going to share the Five Rules for Franchising Success. If you start by telling your audience the five rules you’re going to share with them, they will start to think things like “number three never works in my franchise” or “I don’t really need that second rule” or “What? Number four makes no sense.”
Your audience quickly forms an opinion about what you’re going to say, before you have the opportunity to contextualize and help them understand your message.
Telling them what you're going to tell them before you tell them can actually interfere with your effectiveness as a speaker, and with the audience’s experience as well.
#3 It can make your audience feel belittled.
Speakers with the greatest impact use their words, movement, and message to make their audience feel, think, and act differently. It all starts with evoking emotion.
But if you go overboard with the advice to “tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them,” you could make your audience feel unintelligent, talked down to, or even belittled.
If you’ve ever had the unpleasant experience of listening to someone speak and immediately feeling like you were in elementary school again, you’ll probably agree that’s not the type of emotion you want to evoke in your audience.
You don’t have to speak to your audience like you’re talking to a class of kindergarteners (unless, of course, kindergarteners are your target audience).
Your audience is full of intelligent people who will be able to follow your speech’s structure and flow, especially if you have a strong core message and structure your speech with a clear progression of understanding.
.svg)
%20(1).webp)
%20(1).webp)
%20(1).webp)
